


The Way to a Woman’s Heart

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2438552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he asked her out to dinner, Emily was thinking burgers and beer.  She liked burgers and beer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Way to a Woman’s Heart

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the alphabet meme and [](http://citymusings.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://citymusings.livejournal.com/)**citymusings** strange prompt of **X is for xacuti**. I love when I can write about something just a tad bit different.

“Mmm, something smells amazing.” Emily said as Hotch opened the door for her.

He smiled, giving her a sweet kiss as he helped her out of her coat. It was a cold night but Hotch had something hot planned.

“That would be dinner. Damn, you look beautiful.”

“I really just threw this on. I was running late and knew I had to wear something.”

Hotch grinned as he closed and locked the door behind her. When he asked Emily to have dinner with him, his first thought was an expensive DC restaurant. He wanted to impress her and sweep her off her feet. Then something occurred to him…Emily didn’t want all those sparkles and bangles.

She just wanted to be with him; Hotch knew that. So he started planning something romantic, just for them. He didn’t want to share Emily Prentiss with the world just yet. He took her into his arms, kissing her again.

“You really do look beautiful, Emily.”

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself, Agent Hotchner.”

He wasn’t sure if he should go for dressy or casual. Hotch landed somewhere in the middle, maybe, with black dress slacks and a light blue button down shirt. He had the top two buttons undone; the sleeves halfway between the wrist and elbow. Emily wore gray slacks with a flare leg.

They were low rise; Hotch knew that because the maroon v-neck sweater she wore showed just the perfect amount of her porcelain torso. She had the kind of skin a man couldn’t help but covet. Hotch wanted to touch it, claim it, declare it only his. The least he could do was feed the woman first.

“I hope you brought your appetite.” He said, taking her hand and leading her into the living room. Regina Belle played softly on the radio.

“Oh, I always bring my appetite. In fact, I'm ravenous.”

She smiled and pulled him into another passionate kiss. When she kissed him like that, Hotch wanted to get right to dessert. It was hard for him to pull away, but he did, and took a deep breath. The way Emily smiled at him created butterflies in his stomach.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked. “I have Riesling, some vodka, and a bottle of something that might make you want to take all of your clothes off.”

“Mmm, I’ll take a glass of that, Aaron…make it a double.”

“Yes ma'am.”

Emily didn’t let him walk away without another kiss. Hotch went into his small kitchen whistling to the song on his stereo. Smiling, Emily walked over to his bookshelf. There were pictures there that she would finally have a chance to look at.

She’d only been to Hotch’s apartment a few times. Each visit was for work purposes; Emily never got past what could be called his foyer. She never had much chance to let her curiosity get the best of her. Tonight was her chance for that and much more.

There were only five pictures on the shelf, two were instantly recognizable. There was a small shot of Hotch and Gideon at Hotch’s FBI graduation. Their arms were around each other and both men wore big smiles. Emily had never seen either one of them smile like that in the time she knew them.

Another was of Jack as an infant on the couch with Daddy. It made her remember that she needed to call her own father soon. The third, sitting next to the iPod dock, was of a beautiful blonde with a toddler. She recognized the dimples instantly…knew it was Hotch.

He looked to be about three. His mother had a beautiful smile, she would assume it was his mother, but her blue eyes showed a sadness that couldn’t be reached. That was why she hated looking at pictures sometimes. If you looked too deeply, and Emily always did, you were going to see something you couldn’t take back.

“That’s my mother.” Hotch said, coming up behind her. Emily tried to pretend she wasn’t startled.

She turned around and realized just how close he was standing. “She’s beautiful. Is she still alive?”

“Yes, living in Richmond with my stepfather. She’s probably sitting at home right now thinking of an illness to give herself so I can come home and visit. Mama means well…I think.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you move like a gazelle when you want to?” she asked.

“No. But it’s funny, I was just thinking about your lioness tendencies. We all know what a lioness can do to a gazelle.”

“I like it when you're seductive.”

“You make it easy, Agent Prentiss.” he held up the drink. “A sloe comfortable screw…up against the wall.”

“Oh, you bought Galliano.” Emily smiled.

“I know its one of your favorites. I'm not sure if you actually like the drink or just like asking for it.”

“It’s a little bit of both.” She sipped it, turning back to the bookshelf. “Who are these other pictures of?”

“That’s my brother Sean and I at his high school graduation; he’s much younger than me. And the other is my maternal grandparents. When I was young my family lived in Manassas. My maternal grandmother helped my mother raise me until I was five years old. Come on, dinner’s ready.”

Emily nodded, letting him lead her to the dining room table. Hotch lit the candles before disappearing again into the kitchen. It was so hard for her to believe they were actually on a date. When he asked her out to dinner, Emily was thinking burgers and beer. She liked burgers and beer.

She also didn’t want her heart to make a big deal about Hotch asking her out. It wasn’t exactly some sweeping gesture. He dropped her at her place after a long case and an even longer plane ride home. As she was getting out of the car he suggested ‘getting something to eat sometime’. Seriously, she’d got more adventurous offers from Reid.

But Emily said yes and then goodnight. At the beginning of the week Hotch informed her that if they didn’t end up out in the field he would love to cook her dinner on Friday night. She was taken aback since the something to eat sometime offer had been about three months ago. They’d subtly flirted in that time, kissed and even touched, but had yet to eat anything together. Going with the flow, Emily said sure. Now here she was…and something smelled delicious.

“Ta-da.” Hotch walked back into the room with two plates. He placed them both on the table and then sat down.

“What is this?” Emily asked, looking at her dinner.

“Chicken xacuti.” He replied.

“Seriously?” She looked from the plate to him. “I didn’t know you could cook Indian food.”

“I don’t know if I can; you’ll have to tell me how it is. I couldn’t sleep a few nights ago and I was watching The Food Network. I thought it looked delicious so I went online to get the recipe. Did you know it takes nearly 2 hours to prepare but about 40 minutes to cook?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I didn’t even ask if you like Indian food. I remember you saying you liked Thai but it could be just a bit too spicy for you sometimes. This is spicy as well but also sweet with the coconut.”

“Well, I'm excited.” Emily picked up her fork. She loved trying new food and drink; it was one of the few perks of being dragged all over the world growing up. She couldn’t believe Hotch did this…he didn’t seem like the experimental type. Of course, there were about a million and one things she didn’t know about him for every one thing she did. She didn’t know he could cook at all, much less something deemed exotic.

“I don’t know if I'm excited or scared.” Hotch replied. “I don't cook much and I don’t taste while I'm cooking. One thing I can do is follow instructions to the letter; that’s what I did here.”

“Lets take our first bite together.” Emily picked up some of the xacuti and rice on her fork. Hotch did the same and they tasted it. Emily closed her eyes. It was spicy but not too bad. “Oh Hotch, this is delicious.”

“I like it.” he smiled. “I'm so glad you like it.”

“I like it a lot. Thanks for doing something a little different tonight.”

He nodded, digging into his dinner now that he knew it was edible. Hotch had a Plan B just in case things didn’t go as he would’ve liked. He didn’t know how romantic spaghetti and meatballs were but he made a big pot that morning. He was sure that Jack would be quite excited to hear that when he came over to spend the night tomorrow.

***

“Here you go.” Hotch handed Emily a Pepcid and a small tumbler of water.

“You're giving me heartburn medication?” she raised an eyebrow.

“I took one too. Dinner was delicious but spicier than I'm used to. I don’t want heartburn ruining dessert and the rest of the evening.”

“You made me dessert?” Emily smiled, taking down the pill and most of the water before handing the glass back to Hotch. She was nursing her second drink. It would probably be her last as she had to drive home.

“Dinner isn’t complete without dessert; my mother always told me that. I'm also aware of your sweet tooth and thought you'd like something sweet after something spicy.”

“You’ve got me intrigued sir.”

“Don’t call me sir.” He smiled.

“I meant it in the sweetest way. Stop all this conversation and bring on the sweet stuff.”

Hotch nodded, disappearing back into the kitchen. Emily relaxed on the couch. She was surprised that she felt so good. Dinner was delicious; she even got seconds. And now she was feeling giddy from the drinks and the good music on the radio.

The man knew she was a sucker for a cheesy love song. He also knew she had a sweet tooth, and that she liked to try new foods. It wasn’t exactly Emily Prentiss 101 but it seemed that Hotch had observed enough to know quite a bit about his date. When she looked at him, and Emily looked a lot, she saw a lot of brick walls and long, winding roads.

“Here we go.”

Hotch sat down on the couch beside her, putting two bowls on the coffee table. Emily looked at the bowl, looked at him, and a huge smile crossed her face. The first thing he thought when he saw it was how damn beautiful she was. Then he thought he could stand to see that face everyday. This was exactly why he didn’t want heartburn to ruin it.

“Oh my God, its peach pie.”

“It’s warm peach pie with French vanilla ice cream and extra whipped cream.” Hotch said.

“This is fantastic.” She picked up the bowl, leaning back with it. “I love pie.”

“And I knew that.”

“I think you outdid yourself, Hotch.”

“I just wanted to do something nice for you. I haven’t dated in over 20 years; this is practically new to me.”

“You're doing a good job.” She caressed his hand.

“Thanks.”

They ate their dessert in companionable silence. It was delicious, she wondered if it was homemade.

“Its Nana Devereaux’s near-famous recipe actually. My mother can't cook a thing; a stove is not her friend. But she loves to bake. I think I may have gotten her gift.”

“Definitely…its fantastic.” Emily finished it quickly, putting her bowl back on the coffee table.

Hotch was done with his as well and then awkward crept in. Hotch took the dishes away; when he came back he didn’t sit down next to her.

“Are you alright?” Emily asked.

“I'm not exactly sure what to do next.” He admitted.

“Don’t be silly…we’re supposed to make out. Duh.”

“Um…”

“Oh my God, Aaron,” she laughed. “I'm totally joking.”

“You're joking?”

“Yes.” Emily nodded. “But you're adorable when you're petrified.”

“I'm not petrified. OK, I'm petrified.”

“Do you have any good movies?” she asked, looking at her watch. “Its early and I don’t want it to end just yet.”

“Me neither.” Hotch crouched down in front of the entertainment center. He opened it, checking out the selection. “Oh, have you seen _Shadowlands_? Dave gave it to me; thought I would enjoy it.”

“I've seen it before, it’s amazing. Let’s watch it.”

“Are you sure? You’ve seen it before.”

Emily nodded. She wanted to watch it with Hotch. It was such a beautiful movie; the perfect first date. She watched Hotch put in the DVD, turn off the radio, and then he rejoined her on the couch. Emily slid closer to him; Hotch gingerly put his arm around her. She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“This is nice.” He said.

“Yeah, it is.”

She was going to spend the next two hours in his arms. Nice wasn’t enough to describe it…heavenly seemed more appropriate.

***

  



End file.
